Zambia - Political background

Zambia, formerly the British protectorate of Northern Rhodesia, was
under British dominion from 1888 until 24 October 1964, when it became
an independent republic within the Commonwealth under the leadership of
Kenneth David Kaunda and his United National Independence Party (UNIP).
Kaunda consolidated control over the nation in the ensuing years,
culminating in the 1972 abolition of political parties other than the
UNIP. Elections continued to be held, but only UNIP members could stand
for office. No one dared to oppose Kaunda as president.

In December 1990, bowing to persistent demands for democratization and
riots over rising food prices, Kaunda legalized opposition political
parties. The Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD) quickly organized
itself as the primary opposition to the UNIP. A broad-based, diverse
coalition of interest groups, MMD's sole unifying principle was
its opposition to UNIP and continued political domination by Kaunda.
Frederick Chiluba, a founding member of MMD, ran for president and won
in the country's first multiparty elections in nearly 20 years.
Chiluba faced many challenges as he strove to modernize the economy and
the country's political system. The worst blot on
Chiluba's record was his handling of the 1996 elections, when his
main opponent again was Kaunda, the former president whom Chiluba had
beaten in 1991. Although most observers agreed that Kaunda's
candidacy was a long shot, Chiluba chose to amend the Constitution in
such a way that Kaunda was barred from running. (The new rules required
that the candidates' parents be from Zambia; Kaunda, whose
parents came from what is now Malawi, was therefore ineligible.) The
change triggered a boycott by Kaunda's supporters and protest
from the international community. Chiluba was reelected with 70% of the
vote and the MMD took 131 of 150 parliamentary seats. Only 40% of
registered voters participated, and international observers declared the
election to be neither free nor fair, citing irregularities in voter
registration, vote buying, and Kaunda's exclusion.

In addition to Chiluba's new constitutional rules regarding
candidates' parentage, Zambia's 1991 Constitution provided
for the president to be elected to a five-year term by universal
suffrage, and restrict the president to two five-year terms. The
Constitution also provided for a prime minister and cabinet, both
appointed by the president, and a 150-member National Assembly, elected
simultaneously with the president.

In the 2001 election, eleven candidates were on the ballot for
president. Levy Mwanawasa, candidate of the MMD and Anderson Mazoka,
candidate of the United Party for National Development (UPND), finished
in a near tie, with Mwanawasa reportedly winning with a margin of 11,000
votes. Despite protests lodged with the country's Supreme Court,
Mwanawasa was inaugurated in January 2002, however, as late as May 13,
2003, opposition parties were mounting legal campaigns to nullify the
presidential election.